


Honor Among Thieves

by scheherazade



Category: Tenimyu RPF
Genre: (a.k.a. so many references/jokes; blink and you'll miss it), M/M, Tenimyu Extended Headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 02:31:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4902136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scheherazade/pseuds/scheherazade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This — Yagami thinks, staring down at the plastic cup in his hands — is the worst idea he's ever had.</p>
<p>Sure, it seemed like fun at the time: tagging along to the Tenimyu tenth anniversary afterparty, for all the mayhem that a concert show promised, and the additional assurance that for once Kane-chan would be nowhere in sight because, wonder of wonders, Mr. Tenimyu himself had a scheduling conflict that not even love of Rikkai and Ueshima-sensei could overcome.</p>
<p>In retrospect, he should have known better.</p>
<p>Because now he's actually here; Kazuki has disappeared somewhere with the producers while Kimeru holds court with a gaggle of fawning kouhai, and Yagami — the original Yukimura, beloved Bugiwugi co-host, the object of adoration of way too many puppy-like idiots to count — he, Yagami Ren, is lurking in a corner trying to avoid one Nakagauchi Masataka.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honor Among Thieves

**Author's Note:**

> Written as chatfic for [acchikocchi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/acchikocchi), after I blindsided her with this totally real ship.

This — Yagami thinks, staring down at the plastic cup in his hands — is the worst idea he's ever had.

Sure, it seemed like fun at the time: tagging along to the Tenimyu tenth anniversary afterparty, for all the mayhem that a concert show promised, and the additional assurance that for once Kane-chan would be nowhere in sight because, wonder of wonders, Mr. Tenimyu himself had a scheduling conflict that not even love of Rikkai and Ueshima-sensei could overcome.

In retrospect, he should have known better.

Because now he's actually here; Kazuki has disappeared somewhere with the producers while Kimeru holds court with a gaggle of fawning kouhai, and Yagami — the original Yukimura, beloved Bugiwugi co-host, the object of adoration of way too many puppy-like idiots to count — he, Yagami Ren, is lurking in a corner trying to avoid one Nakagauchi Masataka.

Trying being the operative word, as an arm is flung across his shoulders and he nearly spills his drink.

"Having fun yet, buchou?"

"Not as much fun as you." He ducks out from under Masa's sweaty armpit. "Where's your not-so-secret admirer?"

"Who, Kubota-kun?" Masa's grin crosses the threshold between shit-eating and oh-holy-shit. "Hitting on Hide, I hope. The older one. Though Hideyan also works. Either way, blackmail material."

It takes Yagami a second to parse the meaning. And yeah, this is definitely the worst idea ever. He might have noticed earlier — that, eight years on, he doesn't exactly _know_ a lot of people involved with the current production — but Kimeru never shuts up about his proteges, and with the way Kimeru goes on, even a casual listener might start calling Mitsuya Ryou "Micchi” in their head. So really, Yagami is the victim here.

"Anyway," Masa says, "where's your mini-me? The two of you ought to get along like a house on fire, with your personalities."

"Yeah, you'd think." He realizes his mistake the second the words leave his mouth. Masa's eyes narrow, and Yagami is suddenly glad for the poor lighting. He could blame the flush on alcohol, but he's not sure anyone's actually succeeded at spiking the punch.  "Anyway," he tries, "Kamicchi's got a ways to go before rivaling me."

"What are you talking about? You two were best girlfriends half an hour ago, so unless you like, hit on Ogasawara— Oh my fucking god. Yagami Ren. You didn't."

Yagami lifts the plastic cup to his mouth. "No idea what you're talking about." 

Which, admittedly, is maybe not the smoothest denial.

"Seriously?" Masa bats the cup away. “You already broke Kane's heart, that wasn't enough for you?"

"Like you can talk. I saw your number with Kubota and Mikata."

"Okay, one — I was making a point, I was not making a move. And two..."

Yagami's phone buzzes; he swipes his thumb across the screen. The text from Kazuki reads: _where are you??_  

"...two," Masa continues, "why is your lock screen a picture of a lonely rabbit?"

"It's my rabbit, and she's very happy, thank you." Yagami scans the room, but all he sees is a crowd of unfamiliar faces. He pockets his phone. "It's rude to nose in on other people's conversations, you know."

"It's called social participation. Or gossip, if you like." Masa invites himself to recline all over the wall that Yagami has been carefully cultivating for the past fifteen minutes. "For example, did you know Yanagi's over there telling tall tales about the second generation Seigaku era?"

"Everyone knows the Aiba stories. And I got the D-Boys gossip secondhand from Takki."

"Yeah, yeah, I know about that. This is better." Masa edges closer, conspiratorial. "This is about what happened with Kazuki-san."

Yagami meets Masa's manic grin with a blank look. "What about Kazuki?"

"Come on! Aren't you even a little bit curious?"

"He's just Kazuki." Yagami chews the lip of his now-empty plastic cup, eyes still scanning the room. "What's the big deal? "

"Uh, the big deal is that he's _Katou Kazuki_. He's like, completely untouchable. Like the stupid Hyoutei theme song incarnate or something — man, the casting director really should be getting paid more. Anyway, my point is," Masa leans even closer, "Kazuki's list of admirers back in the day included none other than Shirota himself. Who, according to Yanagi, was bringing his A game on the seduction front. And got completely shut down."

Yagami stares at him. Masa is practically vibrating in anticipation.

"I—" Yagami tries and fails to articulate the rest of that sentence. All he manages is, " _Shirota Yuu?_ "

" _Right?!_ " Masa nearly shouts, loud enough to make a passing staff member give them a curious look. "Oops, that was loud. But — _right?_ How batshit is that?"

Yagami's phone buzzes again. He feels for it in his pocket, but doesn't take it out. 

"God, I hope this is one of Yanagi's true stories," Masa continues gleefully. "I mean, if it's true — that'd make Kazuki-san like, the only straight guy in the history of this production."

"Masei has a girlfriend," Yagami hears himself say. "And you're forgetting Genki."

Masa snorts. "I'll give you Masei — I didn't know about that — but Genki's due for a quarter-life crisis any day now."

"Good thing he has Kane. And you." Yagami looks around for a trash can and doesn't find one. Figures. He scans the nearby crowd again; still nothing — but, it occurs to him, Masa doesn't know that. He points, and makes a show of getting ready to wave someone over. "Hey, look, isn't that Kubota?"

Masa detaches from the wall like he's been electrocuted. "Oh, look at that. I need a drink. Be right back!" 

He disappears into the crowd. Yagami snorts, and — after double-checking that Masa is indeed gone — heads in the opposite direction.

The noise and close quarters is starting to make him feel lightheaded. This was such a bad idea, he thinks grimly as he finally locates an Exit sign. Damn Kimeru and his smug face and smug stories and smug insistence that it'll be fine, of course _Ren-chan_  is welcome to join them, the three of them are like a dysfunctional family — because, apparently, once a Fuji, always a Fuji, and always with the Fuji-esque metaphors.

He's starting to get the feeling that, in this metaphor, "Ren-chan" is actually code for "idiot kid brother".

Which begs the question of who Kazuki is. 

Apart from the guy who turned down Shirota Yuu, apparently.

Fucking hell. _The guy who turned down Shirota Yuu_ — which, logically, implies he's someone whom guys like Shirota would actively pursue. And — okay, it's not like Yagami hasn't heard enough stories to know what a dork Shirota actually is. No one in this production is even remotely cool, by normal standards. But there's still honor among thieves, and even in Tenimyu, there's a hierarchy. It goes somewhere from "Kanesaki Kentarou, difficulty: shamefully easy" all the way up to "Kimeru-sama, difficulty: final boss". 

Except that's a lie, because apparently there's a whole second playthrough where there are hidden traps like _Shirota Yuu hitting on Kazuki_.

Yagami sits on the step outside the emergency exit. Damn, maybe someone _did_ spike the punch. He breathes, trying to clear his head.

And jumps about a foot in the air when the door clangs open.

Kazuki blinks at him. "This is where you've been?"

Yagami slumps against the brick wall opposite. "Just came out for some fresh air," he mutters. And, "You scared me." 

"Sorry." Kazuki glances up at the sliver of sky barely visible between the close-pressed buildings. He looks back at Yagami. "Bum a cigarette off you?"

"I—" Yagami stares at him. "Since when do you smoke?"

"I don't." Kazuki is smiling, he realizes. "But I don't get why you're out here when there's a party filled with people to awe with your presence, so I took a shot in the dark."

"And completely missed your mark." 

"Glad to hear it. You feeling okay?"

Yagami shrugs. "Yeah." And why shouldn't he be? 

Apart from the fact that this was a terrible idea, and Masa is a terrible person, and Kimeru probably set this whole thing up to prove god-only-knows-what convoluted point. Since when did Yanagi casually drop gossip about people he barely knows, anyway? Well, okay, so Yanagi knows Shirota and it's not like any generation of Seigaku has ever understood the concept of personal boundaries, but still—

A shoulder bumps his own.

"Hey," says Kazuki. "Sulking really doesn't suit your image, you know."

"I'm not sulking." It's reflexive. And maybe a bit petulant. Kimeru would make fun of him for this. But Kazuki just — kind of accepts it, for the untruth that it is. Yagami shoves his hands into his pockets and steals a sideways glance. "What are _you_ doing out here?"

"No reason. You weren't answering your phone."

"Parties are for socializing, you know, not texting."

"Says the person who can't wait to show everybody pictures of his rabbit."

"That sounds like a euphemism."

"What would that even mean?"

"Did Shirota really hit on you?" 

—and wow, okay, that is definitely not what he meant to say. At all. Yagami looks up at the sliver of sky between the adjacent rooftops and calculates the probability of both buildings conveniently collapsing on top of him before Kazuki can say anything like—

"Are you jealous?"

—which. Wait, what? He looks at Kazuki. "Huh?"

"Are you jealous," Kazuki repeats, "because Shirota Yuu hit on me?"

Yagami stares at him for a second longer. Then, because he can't think of anything else — he scoffs. "Please. He's so not my type."

"Well, he's not mine either."

"Why not?" He should shut up, He knows he should shut up, but it's like picking at a scab and once you start, you want to keep going until it bleeds. "Also, did you know Masa suspects you of being straight?"

Kazuki laughs. "Whatever floats his boat, I guess." He sounds more amused than offended. "As for why — I mean, how come you never slept with Kane?"

"That's different."

"I'm guessing it's the same reason that Shirota never slept with Aiba."

"What? That neither of them could put a lid on their desperation?"

"Maybe. But you also can't put a lid on real chemistry." His arm slides around Yagami's waist, half-turning in the same motion to bring them nearly nose to nose. "There's a difference," Kazuki says — and fucking hell he's practically breathing the words into Yagami's mouth — "between desperate and _helpless_.”

No small credit to his muscle control, Yagami thinks, that he succeeds in shoving Kazuki away.

"I'll show you helpless," he mutters. His face feels like it's burning up. What the fuck was in that punch?

Kazuki laughs. "Please do. But first — you should at least say hi to Ueshima-sensei before we go."

He's blushing, Yagami realizes after a couple seconds too long. Dear god. Speaking of things that really absolutely do not suit his carefully cultivated image. 

But Kazuki takes his hand like it's the most natural thing in the world. So maybe Yagami is the idiot here, because after everything and everyone and whatever snide comments Kimeru is planning in preparation for next week's show — after all that, he's still the one here holding Katou Kazuki's fucking hand. 

Him. Yagami Ren. 

Kazuki is giving him a bemused look. ”What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing." He tightens his grip. "Let's get back inside." 

Kazuki follows him without a word of complaint. Yagami finds that he can't complain either, even when their entrance turns more than a few heads, and the background flurry of whispering tells him that the omnipresent Tenimyu gossip machine just went into overdrive. 

_Good_ , he thinks, tugging Kazuki even closer as they make their way around the room — it's been too long since he made Kimeru’s head explode.

Yagami grins to himself. Not bad, for the worst idea he's ever had.


End file.
